Recommendations for a *small* stand-alone machine-learning system

Associate
Joined
31 Jul 2014
Posts
133
Hi there,

I'm pretty tech-savvy, but I haven't looked at anything other than Intel and Nvidia for many years, so was hoping you guys could give me a steer.

I've got two 970s left over from a recent 2080 upgrade on my main work/gaming PC. I also have a 1TB Evo SSD, so I have some decent kit to build a machine learning/deep learning hobby project PC. It will just sit on a desk in my office connected to the network, so no monitor or inputs needed, I'll do everything remotely. I just need the rest of the system to run it efficiently.

CPU: minimum 6-core
CPU Cooler: Water-cooled
MB: reliable for 24 hour workloads, ideally MATX if that's possible (for smaller case)
RAM: 32GB minimum
PSU: to run 2 x 970s (Gigabyte Windforce G1s)
SSD: 256GB NVME M.2 (samsung 970 evo it my choice here)
CASE: *SMALL as possible*, quiet and cool... struggling here.


So, asking for recommendations on a system that has at least 6 core CPU, SLI-support and the power to run two 970s. It will be running 24 hours at least some of the time, so I want it to be as reliable as possible. i.e. I'll avoid the cheapest options (MSI MBs, for instance, have failed on me too often but Asus seem to be good). I haven't used AMD for over a decade, but that seems to be a good choice for CPU/MB.

AM4 Ryzen 5 or 7 seems to be the right budget area, btw. I want to keep the cost below £800

 
Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2015
Posts
18,514
Aorus or Gigabyte board - UK RMA and quick turn around

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £849.71 (includes shipping: £20.82)


better ram, 2400hz will hurt your CPU performance with ryzen!
faster 8 core CPU!
better cooler even though its now water
better PSU with longr warranty
better case and also quieter ! Your board selection and case wouldn't work, ATX board and mATX board

if you want the smallest case you can get for ATX board...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-thetis-classic-aluminium-atx-cube-case-black-ca-03c-rt.html

above ^^ is smaller then most mATX cases!

free basic ssd too!​
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2015
Posts
18,514
Thanks, dude! that looks good. I'll take a look. Do you know if this includes build and warranty? Also, do you meant the new cooler is *not* water?

lot of assumption that CLC units are better then air coolers, but 70% of the time they arent or louder.

dark rock 4 cooler should be quieter and perform a little bit better then that CLC if left all at default .

warranty on PSU is ten years, although personally Corsair service is better and also UK based like Gigabyte - both have reps on here... but you pay for the price!

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...lar-power-supply-cp-9020131-uk-ca-235-cs.html

if you wanted OCUK to build it for you, then add £50-100 ontop
 
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Jul 2014
Posts
133
OK, very interesting, thanks for the tips! Still reading, but that system looks good. Yeah, definitely leaving all defaults on. I stopped OCing years ago, but I like that the hardware can do it, it makes me feel like they'll last longer under normal operation (even if that's not necessarily true).
 
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Jul 2014
Posts
133
Only reserve on it is the case, which is larger than my existing one. I don't have much space and this is 10cm higher and longer than existing NZXT 440. IDeally, it would be smaller than the NZXT
 
Associate
OP
Joined
31 Jul 2014
Posts
133
That's a really nice case! amazingly small. Do you think it would fit the 970s? They are 299mm long, apparently.

The case specs say: Compatible with 280mm VGA card.

Water-cooling would be off the table, but I can see it's not necessary thanks to your tips.
 
Back
Top Bottom